Newly acquired center Petteri Nokelainen has only played in 33 games this season because of injuries and healthy scratches.

And he probably won't make an impact with the Ducks right away, given that he's been out since Feb.10 with an eye injury. The only verdict on 23-year-old Finnish player is that he has the potential to be a third-line forward in the NHL.

"He had a lot of upside to him. He's still a young player. We forget that he came into the league at a real young age. We have a tendency to look at him more as a veteran. But he's still a young player that I think will only get better. We like him here. At the same time, to get something, we had to give up something."

Nokelainen, 23, has three assists in 33 games this season for the Bruins. A first round pick, 16th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2004 draft, he has eight goals and 15 points in 105 NHL games.

Nokelainen was placed on injured reserve last week after he was struck in the right eye by a stick against San Jose.

Montador, a free agent signing from Florida last summer, had four goals and 16 assists with a plus-14 rating and a career-high 125 penalty minutes in 65 games with the Ducks.

The trade comes a week after the Ducks acquired defenseman Ryan Whitney from Pittsburgh for left wing Chris Kunitz.

I went on hockeyfights.com Friday morning to watch a replay of the Ryan Carter-Kevin Klein fight that took place during the Ducks' latest loss to Nashville. The voting public declared Klein the winner by a 97.6-2.4 percent margin.

Someone on the site who uses the name "Snowave" made a valid point in a comment that he (or she) left, stating, "As a Duck fan, it's nice to see them continuing to drop the gloves, but can someone please let us win at least once (sic) fight every once in a while?!"

I'm not sure if that comment was directed as the voting public or at the NHL players who go toe-to-toe with the Ducks.

That comment made me think of defenseman Steve Montador, who signed a free-agent contract with the Ducks last July and was told my coach Randy Carlyle that he would be expected to stand up for his teammates on a regular basis.

Being a good team player, Montador has done that. He's one of the first Ducks' on the scene when someone takes a run or a cheap shot at Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry or Ryan Getzlaf. Montador, who is listed at 6-feet and 210 pounds, doesn't hesitate when it comes to trading punches with players who are bigger and stronger. If there is a message to be sent, Montador is one of the first players willing to deliver it.

Given their inconsistent ways this season, the Ducks aren't necessarily surprised when Coach Randy Carlyle mixes things up offensively and defensively.

Carlyle, who briefly juggled all four lines during a road trip last month, changed all the defensive pairings for last Saturday's game.

Rookie Brett Festerling, who had been with captain Scott Niedermayer, played with Chris Pronger. Niedermayer was paired with Bret Hedican while Steve Montador was with rookie Brendan Mikkelson.

"I just felt there was a different look (needed), a different mix," Carlyle said. "I felt in some situations we could have been better. We're just trying to find the right combinations. We couldn't be happy with what was going on in the back end."

Ducks defenseman Steve Montador, it might come as a surprise to learn, is no advocate of fighting in the NHL.

And yet, there he was, mixing it up with rugged Minnesota Wild right wing Owen Nolan at a key point in the second period of Saturday night's 3-0 Ducks victory in St. Paul, Minn.

With the Ducks nursing a 1-0 lead, an extended sequence of Wild pressure near goaltender JonasHiller resulted in the Ducks icing the puck and Coach Randy Carlyle utilizing his team's timeout.

After a brief respite, Minnesota won the ensuing faceoff, defenseman Marek Zidlicky walked around fallen Ducks rookie Bobby Ryan into the slot and fired a shot that rang off the crossbar. A mad scramble followed, with Nolan putting the puck across the goal line just after referee Marc Joannette had whistled down the play because he had lost sight of the puck.

There's no question that the blue line got thinner for the Ducks when Francois Beauchemin suffered a season-ending knee injury last month.

Beauchemin is a top-four defenseman who averaged 25:35 minutes per game, at the time the second-most on the team. While the Ducks no doubt miss Beauchemin, they have so far been able to hold the fort, statistically speaking.

The Ducks have allowed 2.08 goals a game since Beauchemin suffered a torn-ACL injury on Nov.14. They have gone 7-4-1 in that span.

Bret Hedican, Steve Montador, Kent Huskins and rookie Brett Festerling have taken on more ice time and eased the load off veterans Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger.